Understanding and Managing Normalization in Myriad Playout 6

To ensure consistent loudness across your station, Myriad Playout 6 uses a process called normalization, which adjusts the perceived loudness of media items based on a target level. This helps create a seamless audio experience for listeners by avoiding sudden volume jumps between songs, adverts, and other content.

This article explains how normalization works, how to change it per item, and how to batch-adjust content to a new target level.

? What Is Normalization?

When you import content into a specific Media Range on the Media Wall, Myriad automatically applies a normalization target.

Key Points:

• Each range (e.g., Songs, Adverts) has its own normalization settings

• Myriad 6 uses RMS or Peak normalization, with a defined Target dB level (e.g., -8.6 dB)

• In Myriad 6, normalization is applied at playback, not destructively — meaning the original file remains unchanged

? This ensures better audio quality and allows you to adjust playback gain without reprocessing the audio.

? Viewing or Editing Playback Gain for a Media Item

If you want to manually adjust or inspect a media item’s playback gain scale factor:

1. Select the media item on the Media Wall

2. Click Edit, then go to the Other tab

3. At the top, you’ll see the Volume Playback Gain field
   
   
   

4. You can either:

   • Manually enter a dB level

   • Click Auto Detect to scan the file and calculate the appropriate value based on the range's current target level

5. Click Save to apply the changes

✅ Best used when you notice a specific item playing louder or quieter than expected.

⚙ Changing the Normalization Target for a Range

To adjust the target normalization level for an entire range (e.g., all Songs):

1. Go to Settings → Database Settings
   
   

2. Open the Media Ranges tab
   
   

3. Select the desired range (e.g., Media IDs 10,000–99,999 for Songs)

4. Change:

   • Normalization Method (Peak or RMS)

   • Target Level (e.g., -8.0 dB)

5. Click OK to save

? Any newly imported media into this range will now use the new target level. Existing items will retain their previous gain unless manually updated.

? Batch Normalization (Mass Update)

If you want existing items to match your new normalization target:

1. Go to Reports → Media Reports
   
   

2. Filter or select the media items you want to adjust
   
   

3. Click Media Processing
   
   

4. Choose Normalize
   
   

5. Click Start Processing Media

Myriad will:

• Re-scan each selected file

• Apply the new scale factor based on the updated normalization target

• Adjust playback gain accordingly

⚠️ Be mindful when batch-normalizing large sets of media — consider running this during off-peak hours if you're processing hundreds or thousands of items.

✅ Summary

Normalization in Myriad Playout 6 ensures consistent loudness across your station:

• Applied at playback, preserving original audio

• Configurable per media range (e.g., songs vs adverts)

• Adjustable per item or in bulk

• Easy to manage via the Edit Window, Database Settings, and Reports

Keeping your normalization settings consistent helps maintain a polished, professional sound across all output.

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